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Tool Kit: Shopping on a Budget

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How to eat nutritiously on a budget.

Shopping on a Budget

Living on a budget can be hard, particularly when you are a student-parent. Often times, it is difficult to shop both affordably and nutritiously. Here are some helpful tips to do both successfully:

Shop seasonally.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are a great addition to a well-balanced and healthy diet. Unfortunately, often these food options are cut out of diets due to their expensive nature. However, there are ways to shop creatively so that one can still enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables. Shopping for fruits and vegetables that are in season can cut produce costs immensely. Often, displays at the front of a store contain seasonal produce, but here are some general monthly guidelines:

While December, January and February are often too cold for big crops, it is important to note that many fruits and vegetables can be frozen for months. Through a combination of both frozen and healthy canned produce (see more information below), it is affordable to enjoy both fruits and vegetables.

Look for local farmer’s markets.
Sometimes the reduced cost of food transportation and a bumper crop can result in great deals. Champaign-Urbana has two different farmer’s markets: Urbana’s Market at the Square, and Champaign’s Historic North First Street Market.

Look for seasonal trends on other market items.
Other items in your grocery store have seasonal trends just like produce. For example many grocery stores try to get rid of excess stocks of frozen food in March to make room for the new packaging and stocks that will come in as the growing season begins. This is a great time to stock up on frozen meal options. Additionally, after major holidays such as Easter and Christmas, anything with holiday packaging with be placed on sale shelves or have reduced prices.

Debunking the Myth of Fresh Versus Frozen/Canned Foods

Are canned or frozen foods unhealthy?
There is a resounding belief that canned or frozen food is unhealthy and therefore a bad dietary choice. However, it is important to know that canned/frozen foods can be nearly as good as fresh foods and at half the price! The biggest factor in the amount of nutrients found in canned or frozen foods versus fresh foods is the amount of time that passed between harvesting and processing. The longer food sits around waiting to be canned or frozen, the more the vitamins, minerals, and fiber will disappear from the product. However, this is not a large concern for today’s consumer as most companies today have very short waiting periods before food is processed- potentially shorter than the time it takes your fresh fruit to get from the farm to the store.

What factors influence the nutritional value of canned/frozen goods?
The nutritional value of canned and frozen produce also depends on how it’s packaged and prepared. For example, canned foods with a lot of added sodium, or salt, are much less nutritious than their fresh or frozen counterparts. Food scientists have found that rinsing and draining canned products can reduce excess sodium by 40%.  Similarly, canned fruit packed in heavy syrup has much more sugar than fresh or frozen fruit. However, canned fruit packed in its own juice generally has much less added sugar and is nutritionally comparable to fresh fruit.

Does cooking fruits and vegetables make them less healthy?
In regard to other processes and preparation, it is important to know that cooking fruits and vegetables can also affect their nutrient content. To make sure you get the most nutrients out of your fruits and veggies, try lightly steaming them (either on the stove or in the microwave) instead of boiling them in water for long periods of time.

Tips for selecting and storing frozen/canned foods.
To make sure your frozen foods are tasting their best, buy packages that are frozen solid and don’t have ice on the outside of the bag. This can be a sign that the bag has thawed and refrozen. While thawing and refreezing doesn’t affect the nutritional quality of the food, too much refreezing can affect the food’s texture. Canned goods should also be used before their expiration date for best flavor.

Saving Money by Buying Foods in Bulk

Another way to save money if you’re on a budget is to buy items in bulk. For those people with limited storage space, value packs in the freezer section are a good way to cut down on costs and reduce trips to the store while still leaving room in your refrigerator.

Buying items in bulk can make it challenging to come up with different ways to make meals that are variable and healthy. Below we have provided different meal options that center around foods that are cheap and readily available to be purchased in bulk:

Chicken Breasts:

Tilapia Filets:

Meatballs:

Leftover Suggestions

Another way to utilize bulk items are to creatively prepare meals with leftovers. An easy way to make sure that you are getting the most out of your purchases is to plan a week’s menu around a couple staple food items. Overall, there are a variety of menu ideas that can incorporate any leftovers to form an original meal. Here are a few ideas:

*LeftOverChef [www.leftoverchef.com] is a site where you simply put in the staple foods you would like to include for that week and it gives you menu ideas that can utilize that food. Planning weekly menus out in this manner saves time, wasted food, and money.

Busy Day Eating Preparation Tips

As parents, sometimes it seems as though all you are doing is running around, and there is little time to eat appropriate meals. On these days fast food may become an enticing option. However, even on hectic days with only 20 minutes for a meal, you may be able to skip fast food visits sometimes; you just need to plan ahead a little.

Fast Food Health and Affordability Tips

As ideal as it would be to always eat food made at home, sometimes that’s just not possible. Having a busy life means that occasionally you will need food on the run- and that’s okay, as long as it IS occasional. What’s important is to be aware of how to make the healthiest decisions when stepping up to the counter or pulling up to the drive through window. The problem is, the decision isn’t always so obvious!

If you’re interested in reading more, check out these articles from David Zinczenko; the first gives some great low-cal options at some fast food joints, the second lists some fast food meals to avoid, and the last article dishes the real numbers in seemingly healthy foods.

Fast Food Danger zone: The Kid's Meal

Even though it has far fewer options, sometimes picking through the kid’s menus at fast food chains is even harder than the regular menu. A lot of the kids meal items are full of fat and lots and lots of sugar. Additionally, kids meals often have enough calories to satisfy an adult. With the classic combination of a hamburger, fries, and a soda, kids meals can easily be about 600 calories. But the good news is that in recent years, fast food companies have started offering healthier options in the kids meals. Below are some smart meal choices in a few major fast food companies.

Getting Kids to Eat Healthy

An obstacle that parents find is getting their child to eat food that is healthy. Buy large bags of carrots, apples, fruit cups, raisins, etc and have those sitting around and available instead of candy or chips. By early exposure, children are bound to develop a liking for such foods.

Another big part of getting kids to explore certain food options is to make it something they can interact with. For example, providing options where the child is able to make themselves a dish or use their imagination in creating will make healthy options fun. Here are some ideas to try with a child that can make healthy eating fun!

Picky Eater Solutions

We all know that children can be some of the most reluctant “food explorers”. While such pickiness does not immediately result in drastic nutritional problems, modifying these habits as early as possible will give your child a more well-rounded diet and relieve the stress on parents as well!

Here are a few strategies for combating picky eating:

Of course, pickiness may just fade with time. With this in mind, as stated before, remember not to overwhelm yourself with getting your child to try certain foods. Perhaps the best strategy is to always give healthy alternatives and variety. Give your children the chance to make their own decisions and discoveries. As long as it’s relatively healthy, you can’t go wrong.

*Information provided by University of Illinois students Elsa Tippy, Laura Klein, Misaki Suehiro, Riley Guillet and Valeriya Botvinik. For more information or resources visit http://anth249h.blogspot.com/.